Robert Kiyosaki Says Entrepreneurship Will Bring Back Jobs

After interviewing Donald Trump yesterday, I spoke with his co-author, Robert Kiyosaki today. There new book is called Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich-And Why Most Don't and it's available in bookstores everywhere! Robert is best known as the bestselling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad. Kiyosaki has challenged and changed the way tens of millions of people around the world think about money. He is an entrepreneur, educator and investor who believes the world needs more entrepreneurs. With perspectives on money and investing that often contradict conventional wisdom, Robert has earned a reputation for straight talk, irreverence and courage. I asked Robert some of the same questions as I did Trump to get the duel perspectives on entrepreneurship in the new economy.

What is “The Midas touch” and why should entrepreneurs care about it right now?

Well entrepreneurship is, I would say, the number one subject, because we talk about unemployment and every entrepreneur creates at least five jobs – bookkeeper, accountant, attorney, receptionist, etc. That’s how you really get away – that’s how we solve the unemployment problem is not by creating phony jobs, it’s by actually having entrepreneurs create jobs. That’s why it’s important today.

Do you believe that entrepreneurs are born or made? Can you explain?

I actually think that Donald was born an entrepreneur and I had to become an entrepreneur. I really had to study entrepreneurship – I became a student of it and then progressed; so it took me a little longer. Donald apparently has a lot more self-confidence than I do – that was a big factor. Plus, he went to a business school, which I didn’t – I went to a military school. A lot of things I had to learn it, which somewhat makes me a better teacher of it, not better than Donald but I can teach it.

What were a few of the things you learned in military school that help you build your business today?

In military school, on day one you must memorize the mission of the Merchant Marine Academy. I don’t remember it anymore, but the mission was everything. Teamwork was second and leadership was third. They were constantly training you to be a team player that becomes the leader and in most businesses, mission is just something they put on the wall and then teamwork is “who can I stab on the back to get to the top of the ladder.” I was in corporate America for only four years and that was enough – I couldn’t stand it. Military school was great and especially great for leadership and then I spent two years in Vietnam. If you can ask a young man to give his life for his country, you can lead people.

Can you name some of the biggest reasons why most entrepreneurs fail?

In “The Midas Touch” I cover the five points – number one is you must have strength of character, which is the thumb. The index finger is your focus – can you stay focused on a target? The middle finger is what you stand for – your brand. Next is the ring, which is your relationships. Then the little things that count and the things that you do. For example, Domino’s Pizza – pizza in thirty minutes or less and Wal-Mart is absolutely the lowest prices and they build the whole company around that. Most people don’t have any defining process – they’re not good at anything. Instead of building a company around low prices, they have sales, but that doesn’t really help the process for them. I would say the number one skill, and Donald will say this, is pressure – that’s the number one problem.

Can you handle pressure? Most people cannot handle it. It’s awesome. Number two is they lack focus – they cannot stay on track. And three, they don’t have a distinguishing brand. The Trump brand and the Rich Dad brand are worth more than the companies today. Then your relationships – you’ve got to have people skills – can you raise capital? Most people cannot raise capital. They don’t have people skills – they cannot lead people. And then the fifth one again is that they don’t have anything that really defines them – anything that is really unique that only they can do. I would say raising capital is one of the weakest things for most entrepreneurs.